Position Analysis with Matlab

Contents
2 Position Analysis 2.1 Absolute Cartesian Method . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Slider-Crank (R-RRT) Mechanism . . . . . . . 2.3 R-RRR-RRT Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 R-RTR-RTR Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 R-RTR-RTR Mechanism - Complete Rotation 2.6 Path of a Point on a Link with General Plane Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7 Creating a Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . 1 . 2 . 6 . 12 . 16

. . . . . . . . . 19 . . . . . . . . . 20

Position Analysis with Matlab

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2.1

Position Analysis
Absolute Cartesian Method

The position analysis of a kinematic chain requires the determination of the joint positions and/or the position of the center of gravity (CG) of the link. A planar link with the end nodes A and B is considered in Fig. 2.1(a). Let (xA , yA ) be the coordinates of the joint A with respect to the reference frame xOy , and (xB , yB ) be the coordinates of the joint B with the same reference frame. Using Pythagoras the following relation can be written (xB xA )2 + (yB yA )2 = AB 2 = L2 AB , (2.1)

where LAB is the length of the link AB . Let be the angle of the link AB with the horizontal axis Ox. Then, the slope m of the link AB is dened as m = tan = yB yA . xB xA (2.2)

Let n be the intercept of AB with the vertical axis Oy . Using the slope m and the intercept n, the equation of the straight link, in the plane, is y = m x + n, (2.3)

where x and y are the coordinates of any point on this link. For a link with a translational joint, Fig. 2.1(b), the sliding direction () is given by the equation x cos y sin p = 0, (2.4)

where p is the distance from the origin O to the sliding line (). The position function for the joint A(xA , yA ) is xA cos yA sin p = d, (2.5)

where d is the distance from A to the sliding line. The relation between the joint A and a point B on the sliding direction, B () (the symbol means belongs to), is (xA xB ) sin (yA yB ) cos = d, (2.6)

Position Analysis with Matlab where = +

. 2 If A x + B y + C = 0 is the linear equation of the line () then the distance d is, Fig. 2.1(b) |A xA + B yA + C | d= . (2.7) A2 + B 2

2.2

Slider-Crank (R-RRT) Mechanism

The R-RRT (slider-crank) mechanism shown in Fig. 2.2(a) has the dimensions: AB = 0.1 m and BC = 1 m. The driver link 1 makes an angle = 1 = 45 with the horizontal axis. Find the positions of the joints and the angles of the links with the horizontal axis. Solution The Matlab program starts with the statements clear % clears all variables from the workspace clc % clears the command window and homes the cursor close all % closes all the open gure windows The Matlab commands for the input data are AB=0.5; BC=1.;

The angle of the driver link 1 with the horizontal axis = 45 . The Matlab command for the input angle is phi=pi/4; where pi has a numerical value approximately equal to 3.14159. Position of joint A A Cartesian reference frame xOy is selected. The joint A is in the origin of the reference frame, that is, A O, xA = 0, yA = 0,

Position Analysis with Matlab or in Matlab xA=0; yB=0;

Position of joint B The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint B , xB and yB . Because the joint A is xed and the angle is known, the coordinates of the joint B are computed from the following expressions xB = AB cos = (0.5) cos 45 = 0.353553 m, yB = AB sin = (0.5) sin 45 = 0.353553 m. The Matlab commands for Eq. (2.20) are xB=AB*cos(phi); yB=AB*Sin(phi); where phi is the angle in radians. Position of joint C The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint C , xC and yC . The joint C is located on the horizontal axis yC = 0 and with Matlab yC=0; The length of the segment BC is constant (xB xC )2 + (yB yC )2 = BC 2 , or (0.353553 xC )2 + (0.353553 0)2 = 12 . Equation (2.9) with Matlab command is eqnC=(xB-xCsol)^2+(yB-yC)^2=BC^2; where xCsol is the unknown. To solve the equation, a specic Matlab command will be used. The command (2.9)

(2.8)

Position Analysis with Matlab solve(eqn1,eqn2,...,eqnN,var1,var2,...varN)

attempts to solve an equation or set of equations eqn1,eqn2,...,eqnN for the variables eqnN,var1,var2,...varN. The set of equations are symbolic expressions or strings specifying equations. For the R-RRT mechanism solC=solve(eqnC,xCsol); Because it is a quadratic equation two solutions are found for the position of C . The two solutions are given in a vector form: solC is a vector with two components solC(1) and solC(2). To obtain the numerical solutions the eval command has to be used xC1=eval(solC(1)); xC2=eval(solC(2)); The command eval(s), where s is a string, executes the string as an expression or statement. These two solutions for xC are located at the intersection of the horizontal axis 0x with the circle centered in B and radius CB , as shown in Fig. 2.2(b), and they have the following numerical values: xC1 = 1.2890 m and xC2 = 0.5819 m. To determine the correct position of the joint C for the mechanism, an additional condition is needed. For the rst quadrant, 0 90 , the condition is xC > xB . This condition with Matlab is if xC1 > xB xC = xC1; else xC = xC2; end The general form of the if statement is if expression statements else statements end The x-coordinate of the joint C ise xC = xC1 = 1.2890 m. The angle of the link 2 (link BC ) with the horizontal is 2 = arctan yB yC , xB xC

Position Analysis with Matlab or in Matlab phi2 = atan((yB-yC)/(xB-xC));

The statement atan(s) is the arctangent of the elements of s. The numerical solutions for B , C , and 2 are printed using the statements fprintf(xB = fprintf(yB = fprintf(xC = fprintf(yC = fprintf(phi2 %g (m) \n, xB); %g (m) \n, yB); %g (m) \n, xC); %g (m) \n, yC); = %g (degrees) \n, phi2*180/pi);

The statement fprintf(f,format,s) writes data in the real part of array s to the le f. The data is formated under control of the specied format string. The results of the program are displayed as xB = yB = xC = yC = phi2 >> 0.353553 (m) 0.353553 (m) 1.06821 (m) 1.28897 (m) = -20.7048 (degrees)

The mechanism is plotted with the help of the command plotf. The statement plotf(x,y,c) plots vector x versus vector x, and c is a character string. For the R-RRT mechanism two straight lines AB and BC are plotted plot( [xA,xB],[yA,yB],r-o, [xB,xC],[yB,yC],b-o ),... The line AB is a red (r red ), solid line (- solid), with a circle (o circle) at each data point and the line BC is a blue (b blue ), solid line with a circle at each data point and the. The graphic of the mechanism obtained with Matlab is shown in Fig. 2.3. The x-axis and y -axis are labeled using the commands

Position Analysis with Matlab xlabel(x (m)),... ylabel(y (m)),... and a title is added title(positions for \phi = 45 (deg)),...

On the gure the joints A, B , and C are identied with the statements text(xA,yA, A),... text(xB,yB, B),... text(xC,yC, C),... axis([-0.2 1.4 -0.2 1.4]),... grid The commas and ellipses (...) after the command are used to execute the commands together. Otherwise, the data will be plotted, then the labels will be added and the data replotted, and so on. The statement axis([xMIN xMAX yMIN yMAX]) sets scaling for the x and y axes on the current plot. To improve the graph a background grid was added with the command grid. The Matlab program for the positions is given in Program 2.1.

2.3

R-RRR-RRT Mechanism

The considered planar R-RRR-RRT mechanism is shown in Fig. 2.4. The driver link is the rigid link 1 (the element AB ). The following data are given: AB =0.150 m, BC =0.400 m, CD=0.370 m, CE =0.230 m, EF =CE , La =0.300 m, Lb =0.450 m, and Lc =CD. The angle of the driver link 1 with the horizontal axis is = 1 = 45 . Find the positions of the joints and the angles of the links with the horizontal axis. Solution Position of joint A A cartesian reference frame xOyz with the versors [, , k] is selected, Fig. 2.4. Since the joint A is in the origin of the reference system A O the coordinates of A are xA = 0, yA = 0 and the position vector of A is

Position Analysis with Matlab rA = xA + yA . The vector rA is introduced in Matlab as rA = [xA yA 0];

Position of joint D The coordinates of the joint D are xD = La , yD = Lb and the position vector of D is rD = xD + yD . Position of joint B The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint B , xB and yB . Because the joint A is xed and the angle is known, the coordinates of the joint B are computed from the following expressions xB = AB cos = 0.106 m, yB = AB sin = 0.106 m. The position vector of B is rB = xB + yB . The Matlab program for this part is AB=0.15; BC=0.40; CD=0.37; CE=0.23; EF=CE; La=0.30; Lb=0.45; Lc=CD; phi = pi/6 ; xA = 0; yA = 0; rA = [xA yA 0]; xD = La ; yD = Lb ; rD = [xD yD 0]; xB = AB*cos(phi); yB = AB*sin(phi); rB = [xB yB 0]; Position of joint C The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint C , xC and yC . Knowing the positions of the joints B and D, the position of the joint C can be computed using the fact that the lengths of the links BC and CD are constants (xC xB )2 + (yC yB )2 = BC 2 , (xC xD )2 + (yC yD )2 = CD2 , or (xC 0.106)2 + (yC 0.106)2 = 0.4002 , (xC 0.300)2 + (yC 0.450)2 = 0.3702 ,

(2.10)

(2.11)

Equations (2.11) consist of two quadratic equations. Solving this system of equations, two sets of solutions are found for the position of the joint C .

Position Analysis with Matlab These solutions are xC1 = 0.069 m, yC1 = 0.465 m, xC2 = 0.504 m, yC2 = 0.141 m. The Matlab program for calculating the coordinates of C1 and C2 is

(2.12)

eqnC1 = ( xCsol - xB )^2 + ( yCsol - yB )^2 = BC^2; eqnC2 = ( xCsol - xD )^2 + ( yCsol - yD )^2 = CD^2; solC = solve(eqnC1, eqnC2, xCsol, yCsol); xCpositions = eval(solC.xCsol); yCpositions = eval(solC.yCsol); xC1 = xCpositions(1); % first component of the vector xCpositions xC2 = xCpositions(2); % second component of the vector xCpositions yC1 = yCpositions(1); % first component of the vector yCpositions yC2 = yCpositions(2); % second component of the vector yCpositions The points C1 and C2 are the intersections of the circle of radius BC (with its center at B ) with the circle of radius CD (with its center at D), as shown in Fig. 2.5. To determine the position of the joint C for this mechanism, an additional constraint condition is needed: xC < xD . Because xD = 0.300 m, the coordinates of joint C have the following numerical values xC = xC1 = 0.069 m, yC = yC1 = 0.465 m. (2.13)

The Matlab program for selecting the correct position of C is if xC1 < xD xC = xC1; yC=yC1; else xC = xC2; yC=yC2; end rC = [xC yC 0]; % Position vector of C Position of joint E The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint E , xE and yE . The position of the joint E is determined from the equation (xE xC )2 + (yE yC )2 = CE 2 , (2.14)

Position Analysis with Matlab or (xE + 0.069)2 + (yE 0.465)2 = 0.2302 .

The joints D, C and E are located on the same straight element DE . For these joints, the following equation can be written yD yC yE yC = , xD xC xE xC or 0.450 0.465 yE 0.465 = . 0.300 + 0.069 xE + 0.069 (2.15)

Equations (2.14) and (2.15) form a system from which the coordinates of the joint E can be computed. Two solutions are obtained, Fig. 2.6, and the numerical values are xE1 = 0.299 m, yE1 = 0.474 m, xE2 = 0.160 m, yE2 = 0.455 m. The Matlab program for calculating the coordinates of E1 and E2 is eqnE1 = ( xEsol - xC )^2 + ( yEsol - yC )^2 = CE^2 ; eqnE2 = (yD-yC)/(xD-xC)=(yEsol-yC )/(xEsol-xC); solE = solve(eqnE1, eqnE2, xEsol, yEsol); xEpositions=eval(solE.xEsol); yEpositions=eval(solE.yEsol); xE1 = xEpositions(1); xE2 = xEpositions(2); yE1 = yEpositions(1); yE2 = yEpositions(2); For continuous motion of the mechanism, a constraint condition is needed, xE < xC . Using this condition, the coordinates of the joint E are xE = xE1 = 0.300 m, yE = yE1 = 0.475 m. The Matlab program for selecting the correct position of E is if xE1 < xC xE = xE1; yE=yE1; else xE = xE2; yE=yE2; end

(2.16)

Position Analysis with Matlab rE = [xE yE 0]; % Position vector of E

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Position of joint F The joint F is restricted to move in a vertical direction, i.e. xF = Lc = 0.370 m. The coordinate yF of the joint F can be calculated from the following quadratic equation (xF xE )2 + (yF yE )2 = EF 2 , or (0.370 + 0.300)2 + (yF 0.475)2 = 0.2302 , The solutions of Eq. (2.17) are yF1 = 0.256 m, yF2 = 0.693 m. (2.18) (2.17)

The points F1 and F2 are the intersections between the circle of radius EF (centered at E ) and the vertical line with x = xF , Fig. 2.7. For the mechanism depicted in Fig. 2.4, with = /4 the y coordinate of the joint F should be smaller that the y coordinate of the joint E , yF < yE . The y coordinate of the joint F is yF = yF1 = 0.256 m. (2.19) The Matlab program for the position of F is xF = - Lc ; eqnF = ( xF - xE )^2 + ( yFsol - yE )^2 = EF^2 ; solF = solve(eqnF,yFsol); yFpositions=eval(solF); yF1 = yFpositions(1); yF2 = yFpositions(2); if yF1 < yE yF=yF1; else yF=yF2; end rF = [xF yF 0]; The angles of the links 2, 3, and 4 with the horizontal are 2 = arctan yD yC yF yE yB yC , 3 = arctan , 4 = arctan , xB xC xD xC xF xE

Position Analysis with Matlab and in Matlab phi2 = atan((yB-yC)/(xB-xC)); phi3 = atan((yD-yC)/(xD-xC)); phi4 = atan((yF-yE)/(xF-xE)); The results are printed using the statements fprintf(rA = fprintf(rD = fprintf(rB = fprintf(rC = fprintf(rE = fprintf(rF = fprintf(phi2 fprintf(phi3 fprintf(phi4 [ [ [ [ [ [ = = = %g, %g, %g ] %g, %g, %g ] %g, %g, %g ] %g, %g, %g ] %g, %g, %g ] %g, %g, %g ] %g (degrees) %g (degrees) %g (degrees) (m) \n, rA); (m) \n, rD); (m) \n, rB); (m) \n, rC); (m) \n, rE); (m) \n, rF); \n, phi2*180/pi); \n, phi3*180/pi); \n, phi4*180/pi);

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The graph of the mechanism using Matlab for = /4 is given by plot([xA,xB],[yA,yB],r-o,LineWidth,1.5) hold on % holds the current plot plot([xB,xC],[yB,yC],b-o,LineWidth,1.5) hold on plot([xD,xE],[yD,yE],g-o,LineWidth,1.5) hold on plot([xE,xF],[yE,yF],b-o,LineWidth,1.5) grid on,... % adds major grid lines to the current axes xlabel(x (m)), ylabel(y (m)),... title(positions for \phi = 45 (deg)),... text(xA,yA,\leftarrow A = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),... text(xB,yB, B),... text(xC,yC,\leftarrow C = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),... text(xD,yD,\leftarrow D = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),... text(xE,yE, E), text(xF,yF, F), axis([-0.4 0.45 -0.1 0.6]) The graph of the R-RRR-RRT mechanism using Matlab is shown in Fig. 2.8. The Matlab program for the positions and the results is given in

Position Analysis with Matlab Program 2.2.

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2.4

R-RTR-RTR Mechanism

The planar R-RTR-RTR mechanism considered is shown in Fig. 2.9. The driver link is the rigid link 1 (the link AB ). The following numerical data are given: AB = 0.140 m, AC = 0.060 m, AE = 0.250 m, CD = 0.150 m. The angle of the driver link 1 with the horizontal axis is = 30 . Solution The Matlab commands for the input data are AB=0.140; AC=0.060; AE=0.250; CD=0.150; phi=pi/6; %(rad) %(m)

Next the length of the links DF and EG are selected DF=0.4; EG=0.5; % (m)

A Cartesian reference frame xOy is selected. The joint A is in the origin of the reference frame, that is, A O, xA = 0, yA = 0. Position of joint C The position vector of C is rC = xC + yC = 0.060 m. Position of joint E The position vector of E is rE = xE + yE = 0.250 m. Position of joint B The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint B , xB and yB . Because the joint A is xed and the angle is known, the coordinates of the joint B are computed from the following expressions xB = AB cos = 0.140 cos 30 = 0.121 m, yB = AB sin = 0.140 sin 30 = 0.070 m,

(2.20)

and rB = xB + yB . The Matlab statements for the positions of the joints A, C , E , and B are xA = 0 ; yA = 0 ; rA = [xA yA 0] ; % Position of A

Position Analysis with Matlab

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xC = 0 ; yC = AC ; rC = [xC yC 0] ; % Position of C xE = 0 ; yE = -AE ; rE = [xE yE 0] ; % Position of E xB=AB*cos(phi); yB=AB*sin(phi); rB=[xB yB 0]; % Position of B Position of joint D The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint D, xD and yD . The length of the segment CD is constant: (xD xC )2 + (yD yC )2 = CD2 , or (xD 0)2 + (yD 0.060)2 = 0.1502 . The points B , C , and D are on the same straight line with the slope m= or (yB yC ) (yD yC ) = , ( xB xC ) (xD xC ) (2.22) (2.21)

(0.070 0) (yD 0) = . (0.121 0.060) (xD 0.060) Equations (2.21) and (2.22) form a system from which the coordinates of the joint D can be computed. To solve the system of equations the Matlab statement solve will be used eqnD1 = ( xDsol - xC )^2 + ( yDsol - yC )^2 = CD^2 ; eqnD2 = (yB - yC)/(xB - xC) = (yDsol - yC)/(xDsol - xC); solD = solve(eqnD1, eqnD2, xDsol, yDsol); xDpositions = eval(solD.xDsol); yDpositions = eval(solD.yDsol); xD1 = xDpositions(1); % first component of the vector xDpositions xD2 = xDpositions(2); % second component of the vector xDpositions yD1 = yDpositions(1); % first component of the vector yDpositions yD2 = yDpositions(2); % second component of the vector yDpositions These solutions D1 and D2 are located at the intersection of the line BC with the circle centered in C and radius CD (Fig. 2.10), and they have the following numerical values: xD1 = 0.149 m, yD1 = 0.047 m, xD2 = 0.149 m, yD2 = 0.072 m.

Position Analysis with Matlab

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To determine the correct position of the joint D for the mechanism, an additional condition is needed. For the rst quadrant, 0 90 , the condition is xD xC . This condition with Matlab is given by if xD1 <= xC xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end rD = [xD yD 0]; % Position of D Because xC = 0, the coordinates of the joint D are xD = xD1 = 0.149 m and yD = yD1 = 0.047 m. The angles of the links 2, 3, and 4 with the horizontal are 2 = arctan yD yE yB yC , 3 = 2 , 4 = arctan + , 5 = 4 , xB xC xD xE

and in Matlab phi2 phi3 phi4 phi5 = = = = atan((yB-yC)/(xB-xC)); phi2; atan((yD-yE)/(xD-xE))+pi; phi4;

The points F and G are calculated in Matlab with xF rF xG rG = = = = xD + DF*cos(phi3) ; yF = yD + DF*sin(phi3) ; [xF yF 0]; % Position vector of F xE + EG*cos(phi5) ; yG = yE + EG*sin(phi5) ; [xG yG 0]; % Position vector of G

The results are printed using the statements fprintf(rA = [ %g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rA); fprintf(rC = [ %g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rC);

Position Analysis with Matlab fprintf(rE = fprintf(rB = fprintf(rD = fprintf(phi2 fprintf(phi4 fprintf(rF = fprintf(rG = [ [ [ = = [ [ %g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rE); %g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rB); %g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rD); phi3 =%g (degrees) \n, phi2*180/pi); phi5 =%g (degrees) \n, phi4*180/pi); %g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rF); %g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rG);

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The graph of the mechanism in Matlab for = /6 is given by plot([xA,xB],[yA,yB],r-o,LineWidth,1.5) hold on % holds the current plot plot([xD,xC],[yD,yC],b-o,LineWidth,1.5) hold on plot([xC,xB],[yC,yB],b-o,LineWidth,1.5) hold on plot([xB,xF],[yB,yF],b-o,LineWidth,1.5) hold on plot([xE,xD],[yE,yD],g-o,LineWidth,1.5) hold on plot([xD,xG],[yD,yG],g-o,LineWidth,1.5) grid on,... xlabel(x (m)), ylabel(y (m)),... title(positions for \phi = 30 (deg)),... text(xA,yA,\leftarrow A = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),... text(xB,yB, B),... text(xC,yC,\leftarrow C = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),... text(xD,yD, D),... text(xE,yE,\leftarrow E = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),... text(xF,yF, F), text(xG,yG, G), axis([-0.3 0.3 -0.3 0.3]) The graph of the mechanism using Matlab is shown in Fig. 2.11. The Matlab program for the positions and the results for the R-RTR-RTR mechanism is given in Program 2.3.

Position Analysis with Matlab

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2.5

R-RTR-RTR Mechanism - Complete Rotation

For a complete rotation of the driver link AB , 0 360 , a step angle of 60 is selected. To calculate the position analysis for a complete cycle the Matlab statement for var=startval:step:endval, statement end is used. It repeatedly evaluates statement in a loop. The counter variable of the loop is var. At the start the variable is initialized to value startval and is incremented (or decremented when step is negative) by the value step for each iteration. The statement is repeated until var has incremented to the value endval. For the considered mechanism the following applies for phi=0:pi/3:2*pi, Program block, end; Method I - constraint conditions Method I uses constraint conditions for the mechanism for each quadrant. For the mechanism, there are several conditions for the position of the joint D. For the angle located in the rst quadrant 0 90 (Fig. 2.10), and the fourth quadrant 270 360 (Fig. 2.14), the following relation exists between xD and xC : xD xC = 0. For the angle located in the second quadrant 90 < 180 (Fig. 2.12), and the third quadrant 180 < < 270 (Fig. 2.13), the following relation exists between xD and xC : xD xC = 0. The following Matlab commands are used to determine the correct position of the joint D for all four quadrants if (phi>=0 && phi<=pi/2)||(phi >= 3*pi/2 && phi<=2*pi) if xD1 <= xC xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end else if xD1 >= xC xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end end where || is the logical OR function.

Position Analysis with Matlab

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The Matlab program and the results for a complete rotation of the driver link using method I is given in Program 2.3. The graphic of the mechanism for a complete rotation of the driver link is given in Fig. 2.15. To simplify the graphic the points E and G are not shown on the gure. Method II - Euclidian distance function Another position analysis method for a complete rotation of the driver link uses constraint conditions only for the initial value of the angle . Next for the mechanism, the correct position of the joint D is calculated using a simple function, the Euclidian distance between two points P and Q: d= (xP xQ )2 + (yP yQ )2 . (2.23)

In Matlab, the following function is introduced with a m-le (Dist.m): function d=Dist(xP,yP,xQ,yQ); d=sqrt((xP-xQ)^2+(yP-yQ)^2); end For the initial angle = 0 , the constraint is xD xC , so the rst position of the joint D, that is, D0 , is calculated for the rst step D = D0 = Dk , k = 0. I For the next position of the joint, Dk+1 , there are two solutions Dk +1 and II Dk+1 , k = 0, 1, 2, .... In order to choose the correct solution of the joint, Dk+1 , it is compared the distances between the old position, Dk , and each II I new calculated positions Dk +1 and Dk+1 . The distances between the known II I II I solution Dk and the new solutions Dk +1 and Dk+1 are dk and dk . If the distance to the rst solution is less than the distance to the second solution, II I II dI k < dk , then the correct answer is Dk+1 = Dk+1 , or else Dk+1 = Dk+1 (Fig. 2.16). The following Matlab statements are used to determine the correct position of the joint D using a single condition for all four quadrants:

Position Analysis with Matlab

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increment=0; % at the initial moment phi=0 => increment = 0 step=pi/6; % the step has to be small for this method for phi=0:step:2*pi, ... if increment == 0 if xD1 <= xC xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end else dist1 = Dist(xD1,yD1,xDold,yDold); dist2 = Dist(xD2,yD2,xDold,yDold); if dist1 < dist2 xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end end xDold=xD; yDold=yD; increment=increment+1; ... end At the beginning of the rotation the driver link makes an angle phi=0 with the horizontal and the value of counter increment is 0. The Matlab statement increment=increment+1; species that 1 is to be added to the value in increment and the result stored back in increment. The value increment should be incremented by 1. With this algorithm the correct solution is selected using just one constraint relation for the initial step and then, automatically, the problem is solved. In this way it is not necessary to have dierent constraints for dierent quadrants. For the Euclidian distance method the selection the step of the angle is very important. If the step of the angle has a large value the method might give wrong answers and that is why it is important to check the graphic of the mechanism. The Matlab program and the results for a complete rotation of the driver link using the second method is given in Program 2.5. The graph of the mechanism for a complete rotation of the driver link (the step of the angle is 30 ) is given in Fig. 2.17 (the points E and G are not shown).

Position Analysis with Matlab

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2.6

Path of a Point on a Link with General Plane Motion

R-RRT mechanism The mechanism shown in Fig. 2.18(a) has AB = 0.5 m and BC = 1 m. The link 2 (connecting rod BC ) has a general plane motion: translation along x-axis, translation along y -axis, and rotation about z -axis. The mass center of link 2 is located at C2 . Determine the path of point C2 for a complete rotation of the driver link 1. Solution The coordinates of the joint B are: xB = AB cos and yB = AB sin , where 0 360 . The coordinates of the joint C are: xC = xB + 2 BC 2 yB and yC = 0. The mass center of the link 2 is the midpoint of the segment BC xC 2 = xB + xC 2 and yC2 = yB + yC . 2

The Matlab statements for the coordinates of C2 are AB = .5; BC = 1; xA = 0; yA = 0; yC = 0; incr = 0; for phi=0:pi/10:2*pi, xB = AB*cos(phi); yB = AB*sin(phi); xC = xB + sqrt(BC^2-yB^2); incr = incr + 1; xC2(incr)=(xB+xC)/2; yC2(incr)=(yB+yC)/2; end % end for For the complete rotation of the driver link AB , 0 360 , a step angle of /10 was selected. For the coordinates of C2 two vectors xC2=[xC2(1) xC2(2) ... xC2(incr) ... ] and yC2=[yC2(1) yC2(2) ... yC2(incr) ... ] are obtained. The rst components xC2(1) and yC2(1) are calculated for phi=0 and incr=1. The path of C2 is obtained plotting the vector yC2 in terms of xC2 plot(xC2, yC2, -ko),...

Position Analysis with Matlab xlabel(x (m)), ylabel(y (m)),... title(Path described by C2), grid

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Figure 2.18(b) shows two plots: the mechanism for 0 360 and the closed path described by the point C2 on the link 2 in general plane motion. The plots are obtained using Program 2.6. R-RRR-RRT mechanism The mechanism shown in Fig. 2.4 has the dimensions given at subsection 2.3. The link 2 (link BC ) has a general plane motion. The positions of the mechanism for 0 360 and the closed path described by the mass center C2 of the link 2 are shown in Figure 2.19. The plots are obtained using Program 2.7.

2.7

Creating a Movie

The R-RRR-RRT mechanism shown in Fig. 2.4 has the dimensions given at subsection 2.3. This example illustrates the use of movies to visualize the positions of the mechanism for 0 360 . The rst step is to create axis the same size as the ones that will display the movie The axis command is axis([-0.3 0.3 -0.3 0.3]) The statement, moviein is used to create a matrix large enough to hold the 6 frames that compose the movie of the mechanism for 6 values of the driver angle . M = moviein(6); The axis statement must precede the M = moviein(6); statement to ensure M is initialized to the correct dimensions. Next the command, set(gca,NextPlot,replacechildren) is employed to prevent the plot function from resetting the axis shaping to axis normal each time it is called.

Position Analysis with Matlab The program has the structure clear; clc; close all AB = 0.14; AC = 0.06; AE = 0.25; CD = 0.15; xA = 0; yA = 0; xC = 0 ; yC = AC; xE = 0; yE = -AE; axis([-0.3 0.3 -0.3 0.3]); M = moviein(6); set(gca,NextPlot,replacechildren)

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incr = 0; for phi=pi/3:pi/3:2*pi, xB = AB*cos(phi); yB = AB*sin(phi); eqnD1 = ( xDsol - xC )^2 + ( yDsol - yC )^2 = CD^2 ; eqnD2 = (yB - yC) / (xB - xC) = (yDsol - yC) / (xDsol - xC); solD = solve(eqnD1, eqnD2, xDsol, yDsol); xDpositions = eval(solD.xDsol); yDpositions = eval(solD.yDsol); xD1 = xDpositions(1); xD2 = xDpositions(2); yD1 = yDpositions(1); yD2 = yDpositions(2); if (phi>=0 && phi<=pi/2)||(phi >= 3*pi/2 && phi<=2*pi) if xD1 <= xC xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end else if xD1 >= xC xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end end plot([xA,xB],[yA,yB],r-o,[xB,xD],[yB,yD],b-o,[xD,xE],[yD,yE],g-o),... text(xA,yA, A), text(xB,yB, B), text(xC,yC, C),... text(xD,yD, D), text(xE,yE, E) incr = incr + 1; M(:,incr) = getframe; end The statement, getframe returns the contents of the current axes, exclusive of the axis labels, title, or tick labels. After generating the movie, it can be play back any number of times. To play it back 5 times, type movie(M,5).